HAVRE — Depression is a leading cause of disability, with approximately 21 million U.S. adults experiencing at least one major depressive episode in 2021, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. On the Hi-Line, one medical professional is working to lower those numbers and stop the stigma associated with mental health.
Laverdure Psychiatry in Havre offers an innovative treatment by psychiatric nurse practitioner Jennifer Durward.
Tim McGonigal reports - watch the video here:
Durward started her practice in late 2020 after realizing there was a shortage of mental health specialists. Her background includes time as an ICU nurse, where she cared for psychiatric patients.
"I took care of a lot of the psychiatric patients that got admitted for overdoses and certain things. And the final was when I actually had to code a child and and realize that, how are we going to deal with this afterwards?" Durward said.
"I've always loved caring for people. The mind, body and soul as a complete person," Durward said.
"I wanted to, be able to provide the most advanced psychiatric interventions and care, that is evidence based," Durward said.
Durward offers a variety of treatments including for anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance abuse disorders. For depression, she adopted transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS.
The noninvasive treatment uses a magnetic pulse.
"That magnetic pulse, helps those neurons create a chemical in their brain to help start waking them up again," Durward said.
"It's almost reminds me of E.T. where his finger light up and you take two fingers that light up and they touch, and the bright glow," Durward said.
Durward said TMS is preferable to electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT.
"We know that works. But however, the side effects of that is memory loss, and it's very invasive. You have to be underneath the anesthesia because you're inducing seizures," Durward said.
TMS is FDA-approved for patients aged 15 and older and is covered by insurance. Patients can undergo up to 36 treatments, and Durward works with insurance companies if more are needed.
"They stay awake if there's no medication, they can get back in their car and they can drive. The treatments can last between three minutes to up to 30 minutes," Durward said.
While TMS is available in Montana cities like Kalispell, Helena, Billings, and Bozeman, Havre is the only location offering it on the Hi-Line.
Lesley Hanson, a stay-at-home mother, has suffered from depression since she was 14. She said TMS helped her cut back on medications and overcome feeling worn down.
"It really helped me to refocus on the positive things that were going on and really kind of helped in my mind, bring that more forward. As opposed to just dwelling on the things that I was not accomplishing the way I thought I should accomplish," Hanson said.
Mariah Danell initially worked with Durward for ADHD treatment. She described her experience with TMS as emotional, culminating in seeing life like never before.
"I was like hyperventilating, crying, you know? And I thought, well, this ain't laughing. It wasn't anything that just happened overnight. But during the process when I was driving into town, to go to appointments because I had to come every day, I noticed the shadows on the mountains and the birds flocking together, flying through the sky like on movies and things. I have never noticed that in my life before," Danell said.
Laverdure Psychiatry also offers pharmacogenetic testing to determine how a person's DNA affects their response to medication, IV ketamine for depression, and Spravato nasal spray for major depressive disorders.
Durward said mental health treatments are always advancing, and stopping the stigma associated with mental health is key.
"We have to talk about it. If we can talk about sex, we can talk about suicide. That's my feeling," Durward said.
